Is Elon Musk Attempting To Destroy Twitter?

Right here’s a query I’ve been questioning about:

Are Elon Musk and Twitter attempting to take down Twitter?

I’m unsure why the brand new proprietor of the social media app would need to try this. But, if the selections he’s making are any indication, it virtually looks as if that’s the plan.

Musk is simply too centered on blue verify verification, for starters. If this vainness image is meant to be a income generator, the “actual” person base isn’t shopping for it. Actually.

It has an distinctly 2010 look to it. That was when a few of us cared about verified accounts, which grew to become a risk round that point (or at the least that’s when a few of us began interested by it — the blue verify system truly launched in 2009).

It’s additionally about when Klout debuted, the vainness system to let others understand how vital you might be. I’m unsure once we stopped caring about it, however the development went one thing like this: First, we thought verification and Klout scores meant one thing. Then we began monitoring our social media accounts and posting frequently to extend our following. A few of us, together with me, realized that it was all a waste.

It was additionally clear that Twitter has two sorts of customers. There are well-known individuals after which there’s the remainder of us. Everyone knows that apps don’t die or stay based mostly on Kim Kardashian’s put up schedule. That is true democracy. It’s when the plenty flock to an app and it turns into a part of the tradition. That’s when actual progress occurs. Twitter has caught round, and so has Kim, however I’m beginning to doubt whether or not it has any actual cultural cachet anymore.

Musk did what else? Distant work was banned. Half of the staff had been fired, together with a handful of executives and the CEO. Everybody was informed that the long run is hard, and that chapter is feasible. Suggestion that Twitter subscriptions should account for 50% of the corporate’s income. (By the best way, that’s like saying half your income ought to come from individuals paying for spam.)

After which there’s the failed promoting mannequin. Musk could also be attempting to kill it moderately than enabling it. Possibly he doesn’t suppose nurturing advertiser relationships is that vital. Musk, at Tesla, is expert in making merchandise which are price buying. Twitter is free. It barely even makes a product. We’re the product.

For a corporation like Twitter that’s constructed fully on the concept of making a living whenever you present advertisements to customers, you’ll suppose promoting can be somewhat extra of a spotlight.

Elon Musk virtually views Twitter like a democracy zone. It’s a area free of charge and open speech, accessible to all. Nevertheless, this additionally holds true for Linux, Wikipedia and your native library.

Twitter is a industrial firm. It may’t be fully open and free, until it needs to be a non-profit. You can also’t have each worlds: a industrial enterprise attempting to promote blue verify verifications and a non-profit attempting to say openness and freedom. They will’t co-exist.

Musk posted just lately in regards to the dumbness of Twitter. Musk just lately posted about how Twitter will do quite a lot of dumb issues. It appears he’s hinting at the potential for a rebuilding. To develop, the corporate should reinvent itself. There’ll seemingly be collateral injury.

Sadly, I don’t suppose social media customers suppose that manner. Apps like BeReal are thrilling as a result of it gives one thing totally different and gratifying. We don’t need or count on anybody to do a foundational realignment or work on the structure. If there’s work to do on an app it’s already too late. We additionally don’t care how the corporate makes cash. Both the product is worth it, or it has outlived its usefulness. There isn’t a center floor.

So, what’s Elon Musk as much as?

It’s a query I typically surprise about. Maybe he bought the corporate to fireplace his govt workforce. Maybe he thinks that the open supply software program mannequin remains to be viable, regardless of its low income potential. Maybe he merely likes creating memes, and needed to make sure that it was attainable.

I’ll say: I’m fascinated by the dumpster fireplace.

I need to see if Twitter can turn out to be the Tesla of social media, however I’m additionally curious if that is simply one other apocalypse of know-how. This isn’t simply Fb.